Submarine locomotive



(No Model.) 3 Sheets- Sheet 1.

S. LAKE. SUBMARINE LoGoMoTIVB.

No. 557,835. Patented Apr. '7, 1896.

ANDREW HAMMAM. PHOT 0-UTHO.WASH|NGTON. D C.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

n S. LAKE.

SUBMARINB LOGOMOTIVB.

Patented Apr. '7, 1896.

(No Model.)

No, 557,835- Y gx i ummnnnlllllll lllllllllllllll 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(Normaal.) l

" S. LAKE.

y 'SUBMARINE LOGOMOTIVB. No. 557,835. Patented Apr. 7, 1896.

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f v-i i H UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON LAKE, OF ATLANTIC IIIGIILANDS, YEVb JERSEY.

4suena/AR:N E LocoMoTlvE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,835, dated April 7, 1896.

Application filed NOVeHllJeI Z5, 1895. vSerial No. 570,043. (No model To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Bc it known that I, SIMON LAKE, a citizen ef the United States, residing at Atlantic llighlands, in the county of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Submarine Locomotives and XVreeking-Cars, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying' drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in the submarine vessel described in my pat ent application, Serial No. 469,109, filed in the United States Patent Office April 5, 1893.y

The objects of the invention are, first, to furnish means for direct communication `and cooperation with divers working upon submerged wrecks, means for supplying them with air under thev requisite pressure, and means for relieving them so as to obviate the necessity of going to the surface; second, to provide for securing the apparatus to the side of a sunken vessel when required, and to effeet certain other improvements in the details of the apparatus.

The invention consists in the improvements hereinafter described, and specifically set forth in the annexed claims.

l have termed the vessel as embodying the present improvements a wrecking-car77 because of the normal operation in the performance of its several functions when resting firmly upon the water-bed.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the apparatus with the outer shell and certain other parts in section at the center line, where hatched. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same with the end portions of the upper half of said shell and the top of the central pilot-house removed to expose the parts below the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the apparatus. Fig. il is an elevation showing the outer shell in transverse sec-tion on the centerline of the forward traction-wheel shaft, and Fig. 5 a rear elevation of the apparatus. Fig. G is a sectional elevation of a portion of the bottom of the shell, showing the keel in section and its sustaining and releasing mechanism i'n side elevation; and Fig. 7, a plan of the same. Fig.

S is a longitudinal section of the hollow sucker-bar and disk with a portion of the shell of the apparatus and the stuffing-box surrounding said bar. Fig. 9 is a plan of one end of the detachable keel. Fig. IO is an elevation, and Fig. ll a plan, of the pressureregulating device for the divers air-supply and speaking-tube. Fig. l2 is a transverse section of the apparatus at the side of a sunken vessel with a submerged carfor receiving the cargo of said vessel. Figs. 6 to ll, inclusive, are upon a larger scale than the remaining figures, in which latter certain details are omitted to avoid confusion on account of the smallness of their scale.

The body of the wrecking-car is shown of cylindre-colloidal shape and is formed preferably of two concentric shells A and A', separated by the ribs A2, constructed of I-beams having holes AS therein at intervals to afford communication between the series of water tanks or compartments XV thus formed, as indicated in Fig. (i.

The propeller-shaft S is shown formed in three separate portions, of which the outer section is projected through a stuffing-box at the rear end of the car to receive externally the screw-propeller B, the inner ,section is coupled to a steam-engine C, communicating with the steam-boiler D by means of the steam-pipe and the intermediate section is coupled to the armature-shaft of a convertible electric motor and dynamo E, connected by means of wires F to the binding-posts F2 of a system of storage batteries F, contained in the tanks or casings G therefor. The several sections of the propeller-shaft are connected together detachably by means of the couplin 0s Sf, or preferably by clutches actuated by suitable shift-levers.

Oil-tanks ll are provided adjacent to the boiler D, from which oil is supplied as fuel to the boiler-furnace by means of a suitable pipe, as Il. The boiler is provided in the usual manner with a smoke-stack I, which is adapted to be closed and sealed during submergence by a drop-cap J.

- The pilot-house K is provided at the top with a door K', which may be held in the raised position indicated in Fig. 1 by any suitable means, and is provided in the bottom, immediately below the same, with a trap-door K2, sustained in its open position7 as shown in IOO said figure, by means of a counterbalanceweight K3, suspended by the cord K", running over the pulley K5 to said trap-door.

As the ear is capable of floating upon the surface of the water when not performing the functions for which it is specially designed the propeller-shaft is ordinarily driven by the steam-en gine C, the necessary ventilation and draft for the boiler-furnace being derived from the pilot-house K through its normally open doors K' and K2. It may be incidentally observed that in case of the shipping of a sea through the upper door K in rough weather the weight of the water upon the inclined door beneat-h would counteract the weight of its counterbalance, and thus automatically close the door to prevent the further penetration of the water within the car.

During the propulsion of the car directly by the steam-engine the dynamo-electric machine E is permitted to run idly with the propeller-shaft; but in order to supply the storage batteries F the outer section of the propeller-shaft is disengaged from the adjacent intermediate section by means of the coupling S when the machine E is driven as a dynamo by means of the steam-engine for generating electricity for such batteries.

When it is desired to submerge the car, its water-tanks lV, WQ and 72, which are preferably in direct communication with one another, are filled to the necessary extent by means of the cocks M/ in the pipes M, connecting the tank W2 with the exterior of the car, the door K of the pilot-house K closed, the cap J dropped to close the mouth of the smoke-pipe l, the furnace-door closed, and the steam-en gine C uncoupled from the propellershaft, when the dynamo-electric machine E maybe run as a motor for driving the propel- "1 ler-shaft, the car then resting upon the forward traction-wheels N, carried by a transverse shaft O,and steering-wheel Q, j ourn aled in a recess for the same in the rudder R.

In order that the car may preserve its trim during the process of submergin g, its bottom is provided adjacent to each end with an external recess or chamber P, provided with a transverse rotary drum T, mounted upon a shaft T, projected through the wall of said chamber into the interior of the car and connected by suitable worm-gearin g with an electric motor U, whereby the said drum is actuated to lower a weight T2, suspended therefrom by means of a suitable cable T2. Such weights being deposited upon the bottom, the valves M" arc opened and the tanks filled sufiiciently to nearly destroy the buoyancy of the car, when such cocks are closed and the drums Trotated to wind up the cables T2 and thereby draw the car downward to the bottom. The iinal withdrawal of the weights from the bottom into their respective chambers imposes a sufficient load upon the car to render its traction-wheels efficient when positively driven.

The traction-wheel shaft O is preferably formed in two independent sections connected together detachably at the center line of the car by means of a coupling O or other suitable clutching device, each section being connected by suitable gearing with an electric motor V. Both sections of said shaft are normally coupled together and driven by one or both motors, depending upon the power required and the speed to be attained, the second motor running idly when only one is supplied with power from the storage batteries F; but in cases wherein it is desired to make a sharp turn with the car the two sections of the shaft may be uncoupled and driven independently in opposite directions.

The car is constructed with a second pilothouse X at the extreme forward end, immediately above and in the rear of the compartment Y, containing the electrical search-light Y. The pilot-houses K and X are provided each with suitable inspectionwindows d and with a steering-wheel connected to the tiller R of the rudder R by means of a suitable rope or chain R2. The search-light compartment is provided also upon the front and sides with windows or dead-lights a and at the rear with a door for access thereto, sustaining the reflector Y2.

At the forward end of the car, immediately in the rear of the pilot-house X, are the primary and secondary or auxiliary diving chambers or compartments l and 2, respectively, the intermediate partition being provided with a door 3 for access from the secondary to the primary chamber, and the rear wall of the chamber 2 being similarly provided with a'door 4E for access thereto from the body of the car. Adoor 5 is provided also in the bottom of the chamber 1 for ingress and egress to and from the said chamber outside the car. The diver having entered the compartment l and closed the door 3, the air-pressure therein is equalized with that of the external water-pressure by opening a cock G in the air-supply pipe 7 leading from a compressed air reservoir S, which is supplied with air under pressure by means of anair-pump 9, connected with and actuated by the steam-engine C. lVhen such equalization ef internal and external pressures is completed, as indicated by suitable gages, (which are omitted from the present drawings,) the outer door 5 is released and allowed to drop open, with the rounds or cross-bars upon its inner side forming a ladder for the use of the diver, as indicated in Figs. l and 2. ln case the entrance of a second diver or other operator into such diving-compartment is required, the auxiliary chamber 2 is entered and the door et closed, when the air-cock l0 is opened to equalize the air-pressure in such chamber with that of the compartment l. The return from the compartment l to the interior of the car is effected by establishing communication with the compartment 2 by means of an aircoek l1 for equalizing their respective pressures, so as to permit the door 3 to be opened,

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

S. LAKE. 'SUBMARINE LoGoMoTIVB.

Patented Apr. 7, 1896.

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laterally-projecting release arms or levers t, connected together by a link 152 and to the piston-rod 0 1/ of a hydraulic cylinder u by a connecting-rod c2, as indicated in Figs. G and 7. The opposite end of said hydraulic cylinder is connected to the discharge-pipe flu of a safety-valve w, having its inlet-pipe rc2 in direct communication with the exterior of the car adjacent to the keel. The safetyvalve fw may be set to blow off at any required external water-pressure, its discharge through the pipe w into the adjacent end of the hydraulic cylinder t operating to shift the levers t to drop off the portion u of the keel, the loss of which is designed to restore the buoyancy of the car sufficiently to permit it to rise to the surface.

In the ordinary operation of the apparatus the rotary drums T are unwound to deposit the weights T2 again upon the bottom and permit the car to rise to the surface by the buoyancy thus restored upon an even keel, after which the buoyancy is further increased to support the additional weight of the car imposed by the Weights T2 When raised to their normal positions by means of a suitable pump :10, connected to an electric motor y and having one branch of its inlet-pipe x connected to the water-tank 72 and another branch a2 connected to a perforated pipe or conduit x3 beneath the iioor of the car. Each of such branches of the inlet-pipe is provided with a suitable valve in order that when not engaged Ain pumping water from the water-tanks the pump may be employed in expelling the foul air accumulating at the bottom of the car.

In order to illustrate more fully the uses to which the wrecking-car as above described is adapted, the saine is illustrated in Fig. 12 at the side of a submerged vessel Zin the operation of transferring the cargo therefrom by means of the crane k to the interior of a submarine freight-car formed of a hollow tank similar in shape to the wrecking-car A and similarly provided with supporting-wheels.

It will thus be seen that the power and apparatus for handling the cargoes of sunken vessels may, by the present invention, be applied directly to the hold of such vessels and the transfer made to the submerged freightcar adjacent thereto under conditions which are invariably similar to those to be met with under cover upon the shore and which are wholly independent of the state of the weather, tides, ttc., to which iioating wrecking-vessels are liable, and the work upon such wrecked vessels may therefore be carried on to completion without the interruptions which have been invariably met with heretofore in such operations.

I have not claimed, broadly, herein the submarine structure provided with supportingwheels for sustaining it when moving upon the water-bed, as the same is made the subject of certain claims in my said copending application, Serial No. 469,109.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A submarine wreckin g-car provided with a transverse shaft formed in two sections coupled together detachably and provided each at its outer end with a traction-wheel exterior to said car, a supporting and steering wheel projected from the bottom of said car and operated from within the same, a system of storage batteries contained within said car, and electric motors connected to said storage batteries and coupled independently to the two sections of said transverse traction-wheel shaft and adapted to rotate the same in opposite directions, as and for the purpose set forth` 2. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a detachable keel, a safety-valve having its inlet connected with the exterior of the car, and means operated by the said safety-valve for automatically disengaging the said keel, as and for the purpose set forth.

S. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a detachable keel, a safety-valve having' its inlet connected with the exterior of the car, a hydraulic cylinder connected at one end with the discharge of the said safety-valve, and a piston within the said cylinder connected to release-levers for the said keel, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a detachable keel formed with shouldered recesses in its upper side, but-tons projected downward through the car with their heads locked normally within the said recesses in the keel and provided with laterally-projecting release-levers within the said car, a safetyvalve having its inlet connected with the exterior of the said car, a hydraulic cylinder connected at one end with the discharge of said safety-valve, and a piston within said cylinder connected to the said release-levers, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a submarine wrecking-car provided with means for supporting and steadying it when resting upon the water-bed, and a diving-compartment having a bottom door and means for supplying said compartment with compressed air at the pressure of the surrounding water, the combination, with hoisting mechanism iixed within said diving-compartment, and means for actuating the same, of a crane pivoted upon the exterior of said car, and a line leading from said hoisting mechanism through said door of the divingcompartment to said crane, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a submarine wrecking-car provided with means for supporting and steadying it when resting upon the water-bed, and a diving-compartment having a bottom door and means for supplying said compartment with compressed air at the pressure of the surrounding Water, the combination, with hoisting mechanism fixed within said diving-compartment, and means for actuating the same,

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of a crane pivoted detaehably upon the exterior of the said car, and a line leading from said hoisting mechanism through said door of the diving-compartment to said crane, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a diving-compartment having a bottom door and provided with means for supplying the same with compressed. air at the pressure of the surrounding water, a combined air-supply and speaking-tube connecting and affording communication between the said divingcompartment and a divers helmet, as and for the purpose set forth.

S. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a divin g-compartment having a bottom door and provided with means for supplying the same with compressed air at the pressure of the surrounding water, a pressure-regulator secured within the said diving-compartment connected with the air-supply pipe, and a combined air-supply and speaking-tube conneet-ing the said pressure-regulator with the divers helmet,as and for the purpose set forth.

9. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a diving-compartment having a bottom door and provided with means for supplying the same with compressed air at the pressure of the surrounding water, a pressure-regulator secured within the said diving-compartment connected with the air-supply pipe and comprising a cylinder containing a plunger, a lever adjacent thereto and connected to the said plunger, a stop-valve in the air-supply pipe having an actuating-arm upon its stem connected with the said lever, and a flexible tube connecting the said pressure-regulator with a divers helmet, as and for the purpose set forth.

lO. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a diving-compartment having a bottom door and provided with means for supplying the same with compressed air at the pressure of the surrounding water, a pressure-regulator secured within the said divingcompartment connected with the air-supply pipe and provided with means for regulating the flow of air into the same and having an aperture in one side closed by means of a vibratory diaphragm, and a combined air-supply and speaking-tube connecting the said pressure-regulator with a divers helmet, as and for the purpose set forth.

1l. A submarine wrecking car provided with a hollow bar projected through the wall of the car without the same and formed atits outer end with a disk provided around the edges with a yielding packing, a stuffing-box in the interior of said wall for excluding the water around the said bar, an airpump, and a connection from the said air-pump to the inner end of the said hollow bar, as and for the purpose set forth.

l2. A submarine wrecking car provided with a hollow bar projected through the Wall of the ear without the same and formed at its outer end with a disk, a continuous rubber band clamped around the edges of the said disk and provided with flaring thin outer edge, a stuffing-box in the interior of said wall for excluding water around the said bar, an air-pump, and a connection from the said air-pump to the inner end of the said hollow bar, as and for the purpose set forth.

13. A submarine wrecking-car provided with a hollow bar projected through the wall of the car without the same and formed at its outer end with a disk, a continuous flaring rubber band with thin outer edge clamped around the edge of the said disk, a stuffingbox in the interior of said wall for excluding water around the said bar, a transverse setscrew piercing to the body of the said stuffing-box to retain the said bar in position, an air-pump, and a connection from the said airpump to the inner end of the said hollowbar, as and for the purpose set forth.

14. A submarine wrecking-car constructed with a pilot-house projected from the body of the same, an upper air-door in said pilothouse above the body of the car, and a trapdoor in the bottom of said pilothouse beneath said upper door, said trap-door being held normally in an inclined open position by means of a counterbalance and adapted to be automatically closed by the inflow of water through said upper door, as herein shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SIMON LAKE.

lllitnesses:

HENRY J. MILLER, WILLIAM BATsoN.

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It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 557,835, granted April 7,1896, upon the application of Simon Lake, of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, for an improvement in Suhmarine Locomotives, an error appears in the printed specifieation'requiring correction as follows, to Wit: All matter from line 119, page 3, to line 124, same page, both inclusive, should be stricken out, the same having been erroneously printed as a part of the specification; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correetion therein that the same may conform to the record of the ease in the Patent Oliiee.

Signed, eountersigned, and sealed this 14th day of April, A. D. 1896.

[SEAL] JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Gountersigned S. T. FisHER,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 557,885, granted April 7, 1896, upon the application of -Simon Lake, of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, for an improvement in Sulomarine Locomotives, an error appears in the printed specifieation'requiring correction as follows, to Wit: All matter from line 119, page 3, to line 124:, same page, both inclusive, should be stricken out, the same having been erroneously printed as a part of the specification; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the ease in the Patentr Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 14th day of April, A. D. 1896.

[SEAL] JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Countersigned S. T. FlsHER,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

